Natalie Joanne Roles (born 8 September 1968) is an English actress, known for playing DS Debbie McAllister in the British police drama The Bill.
Early life
Natalie Joanne Roles was born on 8 September 1968 in Hertfordshire to a Maltese mother and a British father. Along with her sister, Roles attended the Bush Davies School of Theatre Arts in Sussex.
Career
She started her TV career as a dancer in 1988 on the musical film It Couldn't Happen Here, starring Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe of Pet Shop Boys. In 1993, she made a guest appearance as school secretary Janet Clark in the Press Gang episode "Head and Heart". In 1995, she appeared in an episode of sitcom Men Behaving Badly as one of Tony's three girlfriends. She also appeared in the espionage thriller film Night Watch alongside Pierce Brosnan,
In 2000, Roles had a lead role in the BBC series Take a Girl Like You, She had previously appeared in the serial in guest roles. Roles has subsequently taken over from Oliver Crocker as the presenter of The Bill Podcast, interviewing her co-stars Beth Cordingly, Raji James, Jane Wall, Pal Aron and Brian Bovell, and former executive producer Paul Marquess.
In 2023, Roles was cast as Abigail Wesley in the fiction podcast Letter from Helvetica, written by and co-starring Andrew Mackintosh, the pair having first worked together on two episodes of The Bill. A second series followed in 2024.
Filmography
{| class="wikitable sortable"|
! Year
! Title
! Role
! class="unsortable" style="width:20em;" | Notes
|-
|1987
|It Couldn't Happen Here
|Dancer
|Musical film
|-
|rowspan="2"|1991
|The Upper Hand
|Model
|TV series, 1 episode: "Older Than Springtime"
|-
|Screen One
|(uncredited)
|TV series, 1 episode: "Alive and Kicking",
|-
|rowspan="2"|1993
|Press Gang
|Janet
|TV series, 1 episode: "Head and Heart"
|-
|Minder
|Amanda
|TV series, 1 episode: "Opportunity Knocks and Bruises"
|-
|1993
|The Bill
|Mandy Cartwright
|TV series, 1 episode
|-
|rowspan="4"|1995
|Woof!
|Marion
|TV series, 1 episode: "Birthday"
|-
|Detonator II: Night Watch
|Jennifer
|American TV movie
|-
|Men Behaving Badly
|Imogen
|TV series, 1 episode: "Three Girlfriends"
|-
|Space Precinct
|Officer Chloe Vincent
|TV series, 1 episode: "Predator and Prey"
|-
|1996
|Alive and Kicking
|Catherine
|Film
|-
|1997
|The Bill
|Sara Everitt
|TV series, 1 episode
|-
|rowspan="3"|1999
|CI5: The New Professionals
|Nurse
|TV series, 1 episode: "Miss Hit"
|-
|Cold Feet
|Callie
|TV series, 1 episode: "Episode #2.3"
|-
|Highlander: The Raven
|Janet Ross
|TV series, 1 episode: "Dead on Arrival"
|-
|2000
|Take a Girl Like You
|Joan
|TV series, 2 episodes: "Part 2" and "Part 3"
|-
|2000–2004
|The Bill
|DS Debbie McAllister
|TV series, 189 episodes
|-
|rowspan="3"|2005
|The Golden Hour
|Nikki
|TV mini-series, 1 episode: "Episode #1.2"
|-
|Doctors
|Paula Westlake
|TV series, 1 episode: "Under the Weather"
|-
|Holby City
|Suzanne Lake
|TV series, 1 episode: "War and Peace"
|-
|2006
|The Gil Mayo Mysteries
|Sarah Ludlow
|TV mini-series, 1 episode: "A Sunset Touch"
|-
|2023–2024
|Letter from Helvetica
|Abigail Wesley
|Fictional podcast, 12 episodes
|-
|rowspan="4"|2024
|Murder by Appointment
|Joan Langford
|Short film
|-
|Jackson's Cat
|Rosie
|Short film
|-
|Still Got It
|Ash
|Web series, pilot
|-
|The Gerry Anderson Podcast
|Self / Chloe Vincent
|Web series, 2 episodes
|-
|rowspan="3"|2025
|Letter from Helvetica: Christmas Specials
|Abigail Wesley
|Fictional podcast, 2 episodes
|-
|Do Us Part
|Lisa
|Short film
|-
|I Love This Job: The Making of Space Precinct
|Self / Chloe Vincent
|Documentary
|-
|}